Spurs general manager R.C. Buford was on the phone, talking about a trade: “He’s ours.”

The Spurs front office had identified Leonard weeks earlier – “targeted him all along,” in Popovich’s words – and spent draft night discreetly trying to trade for a mid-first round pick. It would become their highest draft choice since Tim Duncan in 1997. And it cost them guard George Hill, who is referred to in practically every story as “the popular George Hill,” one of Popovich’s all-time favorite players, beloved and revered by a city that has no other major professional sports teams and no big-time college programs.

“If you’re going to get something good,” Popovich says, “you’re going to have to give up something good. It was tough, but we did it … We were fortunate enough to get him.”

The Spurs wanted Leonard because he’s 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds, with hands that measure 9 3/8 inches from wrist to fingertip, with a 7-0 3/8 wingspan. They wanted him because he's still just 20, and he ranked among the nation’s top collegiate rebounders, and because he’s not allergic to defense, and because he gave them size at the 3-man, or small forward, in a league increasingly defined by the position.

Popovich admits it: “Groom him in the mold of Bruce Bowen, is basically what we’re trying to do.”

Bowen, a 6-7 small forward, spent 12 years in the NBA, the last eight with the Spurs before retiring in 2009. He never averaged double-figure scoring (his career best was 8.2 points) but he was named to the NBA’s all-defensive first or second team eight times. The Spurs won three NBA championships with him, and none since.

“It’s a great education for Kawhi, just throw him in the fire,” says Popovich, who has started Leonard already 16 times with veteran Manu Ginobili injured. “OK, you get to guard Rudy Gay tonight. You get to guard LeBron James. He doesn’t shy away, you know? It’s nice. He sticks his nose in and he’s learning. He's done really well.”

Chip Engelland, San Antonio’s shooting coach, watched as much college film of Leonard as anybody, and declared that his awkward jump shot with those giant hands was fixable. Leonard spends hours refining it, shortening his stroke, quickening his release, pushing up from his chest instead of slinging the ball from behind his head. He shot 25 percent on three-pointers in his two seasons at SDSU; he’s up to 33 percent in NBA, with a line 3 feet further out.

“Just working on it every day,” Leonard says. “The guys have confidence in me, telling me to shoot it even if I miss a few in a row, just keep letting them go. Just trying to get better.”

He averages 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 23.1 minutes, but he leads the team in steals with 47 and has shown tantalizing flashes of potential – 24 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a Feb. 21 loss at Portland. His Hollinger player efficiency rating is 15.84, seventh best among rookies and above the league average of 15.00 for all players. He was invited to the NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge for first- and second-year players during the All-Star break but sat out with a calf injury.